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Panthers prevail in 4
Mt. Pleasant volleyball team staves off Fort Madison in regional opener
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MT. PLEASANT — The Mt. Pleasant volleyball team looked sharp, then shaky, then sharp again in the Class 4A Region 4 opener against Southeast Conference rival Fort Madison on Tuesday night.
The Panthers took the first two sets from the visiting Bloodhounds, and then battled back to stop a potential fifth-set tiebreaker, winning the match 25-20, 25-19, 22-25 and 26-24.
“I got a little nervous for a while there,” said Panther head coach Logan Wall. “But I just think we all really believed in each other.”
Mt. Pleasant stayed on top throughout the first two sets. Alex Scott’s game-winning block helped the Panthers pull out the first, and Addison Clark ended the second with a ferocious kill.
Fort Madison, however, had an answer. The Bloodhounds not only controlled the third set, but led 7-2 early in the fourth.
“I think we just had to slow down on our end, and just trust each other,” Clark said. “They were really scrappy, so we had to work hard on our defense.”
A timeout by the Panthers, and a talk from Coach Wall, was met with a little laughter from the Mt. Pleasant players, who settled in to storm back in the final game.
“I told them they have to listen to me like they listen to their mom,” Wall said. “I guess that's what was funny.”
Mt. Pleasant took the led at 14-13 but the two teams traded jabs throughout. The game was tied at 19-19, 20-20, 22-22, 23-23 and 24-24.
“I didn't want to go down like that,” said Addison Peck, one of eight seniors on the Mt. Pleasant roster. “It's my senior year. I wanted to go down with a bang.”
It was another senior who delivered the final blow on the Panthers’ home court. Zoey Atkinson took a serve up 25-24 and sent it right to the back-right corner of the Fort Madison side to close out the win.
“It was definitely nerve-wracking,” Atkinson said. “But exciting after we got the point.”
The winning point sent Mt. Pleasant to 12-25 overall. The Panthers will have their hands full on Thursday night in their regional semifinal at No. 4 Clear Creek-Amana. That game starts at 7 p.m.
“It's going to be a tough game,” Wall said. “They're known for volleyball. We're going to have to play within our system.”
